Richard Cherwitz: Prevent mass shootings, prohibit assault weapon access

I am horrified and growing increasingly impatient.

Let me be blunt: I no longer wish to hear National Rifle Association-funded Republicans simply offering thoughts and prayers to those who lose family members in senseless mass shootings. Those sentiments don’t solve the problem.

Moreover, no longer will I sit idly by and listen to these Republicans once again assert without evidence that the answer to mass casualty shootings is mental health care rather than reasonable gun legislation. The shooter in Lewiston on Oct. 25 had been reported for having mental health issues and subsequently was treated for those mental health problems. And yet he had access to an AR-15, as well as large quantities of high-capacity magazine ammunition.

What is troubling is that Maine has no permit required to carry, no red flag law and no high-capacity magazine ban.

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In short, the common denominator in almost all of these kinds of tragic shootings is the lack of regulations about guns designed for use only in war and not for sport. It is not a violation of the Second Amendment to stop people from buying AR-15 style rifles.

Let’s do the right thing to prevent future mass shootings for once and for all by finally prohibiting access to assault weapons.

Richard Cherwitz, Austin, Texas